Clifton Pugh - QUT Art Museum

About the theme
Education Kit
Pugh’s first involvement in a book project was a limited edition (6 copies) collaborative
artist’s book titled Is… (1971). Pugh and the artist Frank Hodgkinson contributed five
prints each using Hayter’s technique, while the American poet Harry Roskolenko wrote
the poems. Alternative printings of three of Pugh’s etchings found in this book – Europa
and the Bull (1970), untitled (abstract entwined figures) (1971) and Owl up a Tree
(1971) – are included in this exhibition.
Pugh was later involved in the illustrating of children’s books, in particular, those that
had distinct conservational inclination. The first was Death of a Wombat, published
in 1972, originally a radio play written by Ivan Smith. Others that he provided etchings
for include A Kingdom Lost: A Story of the Devastation of our Wilderness (1989)
and A Sometimes River: The Story of a Kangaroo (1986).
Although Pugh provided illustrations for these books, he was not a “book illustrator”,
he himself declared that he did not have the “self-discipline” to illustrate a book. Many
of Pugh’s etchings used in the books had originally been produced as artworks in their
own rights. This is the case for the illustrations in A Kingdom Lost including the Morning
Flight triptych (1986) and Ghost Gums and Cherry Blossom (1986).
For Pugh, the books and their artworks provided a two-fold benefit, particularly for
children. It provided them with good examples of Australian art, while teaching them
important lessons in conservation. He further asserted:
Talking to adults about conservation is a waste of time – they’ve already
made up their minds… You have to teach the children. Children are the key
to conservation and the future preservation of Australia’s bush.
The author Pamela Blashki collaborated with Pugh on several conservation themed
books, including A Kingdom Lost and A Sometimes River. Not all of their collaborations,
however, were children’s books. In the late 1980s Blashki wrote a poem on the affair
between Leda and the Emu, for the book The Legend (1988). The text accompanied
a series of works depicting Leda and the Australianized Zeus, who had transformed into
an Emu rather than a Swan, that Pugh had brought together for a bicentennial show
held in Sydney. The Leda and the Emu (1987) appeared in this book.
Keywords
environment nature triptych
responsibility illustration collaboration
process pattern poetry
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